Joe and Ivora O'Hare pose recently in their Destin home with an old wooden water ski and a photo of one of their countless water ski shows for the Billy Bowlegs Pirate festival in the 1950s and 1960s.

NICK TOMECEK | Daily News

By JENNIE McKEON | Daily News

Published: Friday, August 15, 2014 at 04:55 PM.

Before there was paddle boarding or flyboarding, there was water skiing.

Joe and Ivora O'Hare, two Georgia transplants, helped popularize the sport in local waters in the '50s and '60s with the Miracle Strip Water Ski Club.
“The only thing to do back then was water ski,” Joe said.

The Miracle Strip Water Ski Club, comprised of about 20 teenagers and young adults, was a big part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival. Joe would build the skis and Ivora would sew the costumes for the shows. The first ski Joe ever made is still propped up against a wall in the kitchen of his Destin home.

Joe often performed in and directed the shows. Ivora would when she wasn’t pregnant with one of their three daughters.

The club performed shows for the Air Force and local business — “anyone that wanted us,” Joe said. They would also host regular shows Saturday evenings at what was Aqua Sports Arena (now, it's an RV Park), across from the Gulfarium. Shows were only 25 cents.

Sometimes, the show would go on the road to Alabama and Georgia with a portable ski jump packed in a trailer.

Water skiing was never a money-maker, Joe said. Just a hobby, although one they were immersed in.

“When we got married, the first thing we bought was a boat and water skis,” Joe said. “One of our first stops on our honeymoon was Cypress Gardens, Florida to see the shows.”

It's been a few decades since the couple — or any of the club members — have strapped on the skis.

“People got old, I guess,” Joe said with a laugh. “Our trophies are so old the gold is coming off.”

Joe first learned to water ski in Columbus, Georgia, “on the backwater of Chattahoochee River.”

Back then, water skiing required heavy, wooden boards and handles. Instead of polyurethane ropes, they were braided hemp.

The O'Hares lived in Cinco Bayou from 1953 to 1961 before taking up residence in a 42-foot houseboat in Tennessee. In the 1990s, when Joe retired from scientific photography, they moved to Destin.

Today, the O'Hares enjoy life on land, but they may also take in a water ski show occasionally.

“I'm sure glad they didn't have all of those tricks and things when we were skiing so we wouldn't hurt ourselves,” Joe said.

Before there was paddle boarding or flyboarding, there was water skiing.

Joe and Ivora O'Hare, two Georgia transplants, helped popularize the sport in local waters in the '50s and '60s with the Miracle Strip Water Ski Club.
“The only thing to do back then was water ski,” Joe said.

The Miracle Strip Water Ski Club, comprised of about 20 teenagers and young adults, was a big part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival. Joe would build the skis and Ivora would sew the costumes for the shows. The first ski Joe ever made is still propped up against a wall in the kitchen of his Destin home.

Joe often performed in and directed the shows. Ivora would when she wasn’t pregnant with one of their three daughters.

The club performed shows for the Air Force and local business — “anyone that wanted us,” Joe said. They would also host regular shows Saturday evenings at what was Aqua Sports Arena (now, it's an RV Park), across from the Gulfarium. Shows were only 25 cents.

Sometimes, the show would go on the road to Alabama and Georgia with a portable ski jump packed in a trailer.

Water skiing was never a money-maker, Joe said. Just a hobby, although one they were immersed in.

“When we got married, the first thing we bought was a boat and water skis,” Joe said. “One of our first stops on our honeymoon was Cypress Gardens, Florida to see the shows.”

It's been a few decades since the couple — or any of the club members — have strapped on the skis.

“People got old, I guess,” Joe said with a laugh. “Our trophies are so old the gold is coming off.”

Joe first learned to water ski in Columbus, Georgia, “on the backwater of Chattahoochee River.”

Back then, water skiing required heavy, wooden boards and handles. Instead of polyurethane ropes, they were braided hemp.

The O'Hares lived in Cinco Bayou from 1953 to 1961 before taking up residence in a 42-foot houseboat in Tennessee. In the 1990s, when Joe retired from scientific photography, they moved to Destin.

Today, the O'Hares enjoy life on land, but they may also take in a water ski show occasionally.

“I'm sure glad they didn't have all of those tricks and things when we were skiing so we wouldn't hurt ourselves,” Joe said.